This invention refers to a child carriage, and more particularly concerns a child stroller having a frame, a seat, a back rest and a footrest.
A conventional stroller consists of a frame having a seat and being equipped with a back rest and a footrest. This conventional stroller has the disadvantage that infants which can just barely set are forced into a seating posture, which is anatomically dangerous and can lead to damaged posture. Since the seat is too big for such a child, the child is either made to sit upright on the rear part of the seat while leaning against the back rest with stretchedout legs, or the child is seated on the front part of the seat in such a way that his legs can hang down onto the footrest. In the second situation, it is necessary to stuff the free space between the child's back and the back rest with pillows or blankets. The child, however, will not remain tranquilly seated in either seating position and after a while will assume a more or less crooked seating position.
The conventional stroller is likewise unfavourable for children who are just at the stage in which they grow out of the stroller, since they constantly assume a sitting position in which they either always have their legs forming an angle with the seat, or, if their legs do not form an angle, they find only a short support surface for the thighs, with the rim of the seat pressing into the thighs and thus disrupting the blood circulation of the legs.
The present invention is concerned with the task of providing a child stroller having a seat configuration which can be adjusted to the size of any child of stroller age, particularly to the length of the thighs of each child.
According to the invention, the seat includes at least one seating surface member which can be moved relative to the frame for adaptation to the length of a child's thigh and which can be locked in position. By making this adjustment, the seating surface of the seat can be varied in such a way that small children just barely able to sit, as well as children who are starting to outgrow the stroller, are always seated correctly from the anatomical viewpoint, i.e. for each child in the above-mentioned size range, the length of the seat can be adjusted so as to ensure an optimum support for the child's thigh.
An advantageous embodiment is considered to be in the fact that each seating surface part is being guided in at least one guideway arranged on the frame. It is thereby possible to move each seating surface part, without tilting, in a simple and easy manner.
A favorable embodiment from the construction viewpoint can be given by the fact that at least one elongated slot oriented in the direction of travel is arranged as the guideway on the frame. This design can be manufatured especially easily and is therefore very favorable costwise.
In order to prevent a child who is climbing around in the stroller from accidentally causing the seat to be moved, it is advantageous for each seating surface part to be capable of being locked in position by means of a locking device. It is also advantageous for the locking device to be formed by at least one threaded pin being arranged on each seating surface part and projecting through at least one elongated slot, and a wing nut or hand nut capable of being screwed on the threaded pin and producing a fixed connection between the seating surface and the frame. By means of such a locking device, it is possible to securely lock into place the length of the seating surface once it has been selected.
It is also advantageous for the back rest to be coupled to the frame so that it can be tilted.
An advantageous embodiment is given due to the fact that the seat exhibits a single seating surface part and that the frame and the guideway are designed in such a way that the seating surface part can be moved in the direction of seating from a position of smallest length--which corresponds to the average length of the thigh of a child of earliest sitting age--to a position of greatest length--which corresponds to the average length of the thigh of a child on the verge of outgrowing a stroller.
A favorable alternative embodiment can be considered to lie in the fact that the seat exhibits several seating surface parts which can be attached to the frame transversely with respect to the direction of seating, in an individually detachable manner, and that for adaptation to a given thigh length of a child the seating parts can be moved in the direction of seating, relative to the frame, and the number of seating parts employed can be changed, if necessary.
An advantageous embodiment from the construction viewpoint is given due to the fact that in its lower region the back rest overlaps the sole seating surface part, or the rearmost of several seating surface parts, on both sides. By means of this expedient, it is ensured that a gap is not formed in the rear region of the seat.
According to a further development of the invention, for the purpose of adaptation to the length of a child's back, the back rest is movably coupled to the seat and can be locked in position. Due to this expedient, the back rest can be pulled out to a desired height and locked into position. If the kiddie stroller is to be used for a smaller child, then the back rest is disengaged and adjusted to the new, smaller height.
An advantageous embodiment is given due to the fact that the footrest is designed so that its length can be adjusted. By means of this, it is possible to adapt the footrest to the length of a child's lower leg, thus ensuring optimum support of the lower limbs.
In doing so, it can be advantageous for the footrests to be coupled to the frame so that they can be adjusted to various positions of inclination in a conventional manner.
An alternative embodiment on this matter provides for the footrest to be arranged on the sole seating surface part or on the front seating surface part in a manner so that it can be adjusted to different positions of inclination. By this expedient, a complete support of the child's legs can likewise be achieved.
An advantageous design refinement is achieved by coupling side plates to the frame in a conventional manner in order to form a frame unit, and by securing the frame unit in a detachable manner to a wheel frame, for instance a "scissors-type" frame.